Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Name Change

I have finally figured out a new name for this blog of mine! I wanted a name that wouldn't exclude one child or the other so keeping "And Brayden Makes Three" wasn't really an option. Poor Madison was left out. So....drumroll please.....

The new name will be "Mayhem with Minis"!!! 

I will be changing it officially probably next week but I want to give a heads up so no one is confused when I change things. 

Staying Sane

Things have been pretty crazy around here lately. We have been potty training Brayden and Madison has been cutting teeth for what seems like FOREVER. 

The potty training has been going pretty well except for one particular area. Poop. He mostly refuses to go poop on the toilet. He will wait all day until we give him a pull-up for bed. Then he poops in his pull-up, yells from his bed that he pooped and needs a new pull-up, I change his pull-up and he goes back to bed. So frustrating. He has also gone poop in his undies at least 6 times. 

I feel like we have tried everything as far as incentives go but it just isn't working. I have stopped pushing for him to go poop on the toilet and hopefully he will go in his own time. He did go today so I am hopeful that we are on the right track! 

Sorry for talking about poop.

Moving on. 

Madison has had her bottom two teeth for a while and her top two teeth have been struggling to come through for at least a month! Poor girl has had a rough go. Her top right tooth finally broke through today but we probably have another week or so before the left tooth does the same. This means more long nights and not a lot of sleep. I will be very happy when we get a break from teething. Whenever that may be! 

So how do I stay sane during all of this?!? Wine. 

Okay not really but on some nights, a glass of wine really helps. I usually just make sure the kids go down by 8 at the latest and then I make sure I take time for myself. I do something that I enjoy such as catching up on my recorded shows, browsing through Pinterest, reading blogs or watching a movie. I try not to worry about the dishes not being done or the toys out on the floor. I give myself at least an hour to just relax. Then I will do a quick sweep of the house to pick up the toys (so I don't kill myself when I wake up to feed Madison at night) and head to bed. I can't worry too much about the laundry I still need to put away or the kitchen table being covered with unopened mail. It will all still be there to or row when I wake up and have my necessary cup of coffee to get me going. It can wait. And besides...these crazy kids are all worth it! 


Note the bathtub: that's also something that can wait. I am not about to scrub all that crayon off every time he takes a bath. That would be a full-time job! It will still be there tomorrow when I MIGHT clean it up. Not likely. 

What do you do to stay sane during all the craziness of raising minis?

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Baby Food: Veggies Edition

Making baby food started for me when I had Brayden. I wanted to know exactly what was going in my son's body and it was so much cheaper! Win, win.

It's super easy and can be adapted for all sorts of combinations! 

I start with just veggies since babies have a natural sweet tooth. I don't want to start with something super sweet and then have her refuse the veggies because they aren't sweet.

My first few batches were peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots. For the peas, I buy the frozen package and then follow the cooking directions on the back. Once soft, I put the peas in my blender (a Blendtec) along with some of the cooking water from the pot. I blend until super smooth and I can adjust the consistency as it blends. Start with just a little of the cooking water because you can always add more. I make her first feedings pretty thin since the texture can be a huge adjustment for babies.




As you can see, she's a fan.


For the sweet potatoes and carrots, I put them in pots and boil them until soft. I peeled the sweet potatoes and use the baby carrots so I didn't have to peel them. Once soft, again you put them in the blender with some of the cooking water and blend until smooth.

Once it's all blended and the consistency you want, put spoonfuls into the food freezing system you plan to use. I use a combination of ice cube trays and baby food containers both of which I purchased on Amazon. The ice cubes are awesome because each cube is 1 ounce so you can pull out as many as you need for each feeding. Just place them in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until warm.






Sweet potatoes everywhere...but mostly in her mouth! Success.

Next up I will be making fruit purees now that Madison is eating the veggies and transitioned well from a meal of pears to a meal of carrots. For fruits you want to be sure to wash them thoroughly and then peel any skin that would have a wax covering (such as apples). Then you can follow the same steps as the veggies. It helps to boil the crunchy fruits, like apples, to make them a little softer so that when you blend them, you don't end up with chunks.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Madison: 8 Months

My sweet baby girl is getting so big and is now 8 months (as of yesterday). She is doing so many things that just seem so odd considering she is still such a tiny little human! She is totally cruising on furniture and will let go while standing and can stand on her own for a bit. She will be walking in no time! The weird thing is, she is still in 6 months clothing and weighs only 15 pounds (according to her last doc appointment at 7 months). She is eating food on a regular basis finally. It took so long for her to understand the whole eating food thing. It was so frustrating because I tried everything and she just wouldn't open her mouth. Once she got it though, she has done great ever since. She eats 2-3 containers of food every day (3.5 ounce containers). And yes, we use store-bought food now. For some reason, she just didn't like the food I made for her. I think it may have not been smooth enough for her. She really hates any type of texture and the store-bought food is incredibly smooth. Oh well. It's not the end of the world for me. It would have been nice to save the money and make her food like I did with Brayden but it is pretty convenient that I can just bring a package with us wherever we go and not worry about having to warm it up or keep it cold. Most importantly, she eats it.

She still only has her two bottom teeth but her top two are about to bust through. They have been bothering her a bit, even with the amber necklace, but she doesn't need any pain medicine during the day. I give her some at night right before bed to help her sleep. She still wakes up about 2 times per night but nurses and goes right back to sleep (usually). I am still waiting for her to finally sleep through the night!!

She experienced quite a few firsts in the last month! First time on a swing, first time in a pool, first wedding, first real apple, and first 5k. It was a super busy month so I am hoping things slow down a bit but for now, we are enjoying the craziness!

Likes:
-the pool (we start swim lessons today!)
-baths
-nursing
-her brother
-her brother's toys (especially his Jessie doll)
-being held
-chewing on ANYTHING
-getting things she shouldn't have (cords, paper, small toys, etc.)
-the Ergo
-dogs
-eating my food (aka sucking on my apple)

Dislikes:
-getting her diaper or clothes changed
-being left alone (unless she is surrounded by her brother's toys)
-getting into the car seat (she's much better in the car but she still doesn't enjoy it)
-deep voices (men's voices tend to scare her)
-being in the jumper


Amid her brother's tent of toys

First time on the swings...it was a hit!

She really enjoys looking at the baby in the phone (her!)

Both kids joined us on our first family 5k. 

We got fancy for Auntie Samantha's wedding!



She loved eating my apple!




This is how I cook now.

One of her favorite places to play.

She's so close to standing up on her own.



She really loves drinking water from a cup...and the noises she makes are hilarious!